This invention relates to an improved ultrasonic dental tool. More particularly this invention relates to apparatus which utilizes an ultrasonically driven head in conjunction with a spray of liquid or slurry containing abrasive material to operate as a cutting or cleaning tool in dental operations (procedures).
Acoustically vibrated cutting and cleaning devices essentially comprise a vibrator having an electromechanical part or section which is induced to vibrate at relatively high frequency and small amplitude by the presence of a surrounding alternating electromagnetic field as produced by an alternating current source. The electromechanical section or part may be any one of several types such as electrodynamic, piezo-electric, or magnetostrictive, with an operating frequency range in the order of 5,000 to 40,000 cycles per second and a preferred frequency range in the order of 20,000 to about 30,000 cycles per second.
Where the electromechanical section or part is magnetostrictive, one end thereof is fixed to a connecting body whose other end rigidly supports a selected work tool. The connecting body serves as an acoustic impedance transformer and is so shaped and formed as to either enlarge or reduce the amplitude of vibrations produced by the electromechanical part or section as delivered to the work tool through the connecting body. The vibrator described above is essentially composed of an electromechanical part or section, a connecting body and a work tool, which are rigidly joined end to end as a unit and supported by a suitable housing or casing.
Specifically the present invention is an improvement on the device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,076,904 issued Feb. 5, 1963 to C. Kleesattel et al. for Acoustically Vibrated Material Cutting and Removing Devices. Prior art devices as exemplified by the device shown in the heretofore described patent utilize a separate off-center conduit and nozzle to deliver a liquid slurry or cooling water to the tool and adjacent area. While there are no great disadvantages to such an offset conduit, the position of the tool and the nozzle must be set so that the liquid is delivered in the work area. For instance the nozzle may be so constructed to deliver water in the area of the tool tip for a tool which is bent away from the axis of the device. Obviously if an unbent tool tip were in use, the fluid will not be directed towards the more appropriate location unless the nozzle direction were changed. Secondarily where the nozzle tip stands out from the body of the device, it is more exposed to dislocation and damage.